


last of a dying breed

by murphysarc



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Death, Episode: s06e16, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, the line up basically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-25 04:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12522836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murphysarc/pseuds/murphysarc
Summary: Rick knows that there are eleven different ways this can go. He knows this, all too well.or, rick's thoughts as he imagines each one of the line-up members getting the bat.set in between 6x16 and 7x01. title from “last of the real ones” by fall out boy.





	last of a dying breed

**Author's Note:**

> first walking dead fic, so....inaccuracies are probably sprinkled all over this thing.

**zero.**

_There are eleven different ways that this could go._

_Dozens more, of course, if you count the numerous ways in which Negan finally learns what compassion is, in which they murder all the men around them, in which nobody leaves this clearing alive and the Walkers can feast._

_But Rick understands that these don’t count. These have never counted. The villain has never learned compassion, not before, and not now._

_Rick understands more than they give him credit for. It’s what’s got him this far. Maybe his leadership has done them alright, but it’s not the reason for their survival. They’ve made it this far because Rick understands, he knows how the world works, he knows that they are trapped and whatever Negan decides to do, Negan will do._

_He closes his eyes, finally, and waits._

_There are eleven different ways this could go._

**one.**

The bat lands mercilessly on Glenn’s head, immediately crippling him. Rick’s eyes open to the sight of blood cascading down from the wound, hitting the ground in silence.

Maggie screams once, twice, and then falls silent as she loses grip and hits the ground. No one rushes to help her. They know better than that.

“M-Maggie,” Glenn gasps, somehow upright, somehow coherent. Maggie’s already out, though, cursed to the fate of never hearing her husband’s voice again.

“Would you _look_ and _that_!” Negan yells, holding the bat in the air. All the men around them cheer, but Rick, Rick’s eyes never leave Glenn’s. They lock, for as long as Glenn is able, and for a moment it’s just Rick in the tank and Glenn on the radio.

Except –

he can’t help him, now.             

The bat hits again, and again, and again. Glenn no longer resembles Glenn and finally, Rick tears his eyes away, but the image of the mangled corpse remains.

“Still kickin’, right until the end,” Negan says, finally stepping away. “That’s really _something_!”

Somehow Rick will find the courage to glance to his right, at Maggie, who’s lying still and may be dead already. “Please,” he’ll say, but his voice will be small.

“What was that?” Negan whispers, crouching, face inches away. “I’m sorry, _what_ was that you just said to me?”

“I…please.”

“ _One_ more time!”

“ _Please_.”

And Negan will nod, and slowly back away. “You,” he says, pointing at Rosita with the bat, still dripping with blood. “You can take _her_ into the RV. Slowly.”

Rosita’s eyes haven’t left Glenn’s body, but she’ll stand because if she doesn’t, she understands she will be next. Maybe, Rick thinks, they all understand all too well. Ever so slowly, she approaches Maggie’s limp body and lifts her up, half-carrying and half-dragging her back into the RV.

Once they’re safely inside, Rick’s able to breathe in relief. “Now, you,” Negan says, turning to point at Daryl, who is trying hard not lash out. He gets up regardless and moves into the RV. One by one, this continues, until it’s only Rick left.

“I could kill you,” Negan says. “You remember that. You _all_ could have died, but I let you live. Do you know why I’m letting you live?”

A pause.

“You _belong_ to me, Rick, and don’t you forget it.”

-

Maggie still hasn’t stirred when they reach Hilltop. “We have to get back home,” Michonne says as the gates open to let them in. “But…”

Rick nods. He knows, as he watches Maggie’s still features. This may be the only peace she has for years to come. Knowing this, it’s even harder to recognize that they must leave her here to get any chance of warning their people of the Saviours.

“Someone should stay,” he says, leaving out the ‘ _because Glenn’s not here_ ’ part of the sentence.

“I will,” Sasha says, the first words she’s spoken since the lineup. Rick nods. No one fights her on this – they’d all stay, if they all could.

“We’ll be back,” he finally says, helping Sasha get Maggie out of the RV, before the engine starts and they head back home.

-

The differences are subtle, and that’s what makes it hard.

Maggie doesn’t come home, but Sasha does after a week or so. “She’s fine,” Sasha reports as she steps inside the gates. “The baby’s alright now, too. But…Maggie wants to stay there, for a while. Jesus is helping her.”

Rick understands, he does, but now they’re down two fighters and Alexandria is barely coping. Aaron’s put it upon himself to lock the gates permanently, only letting Negan in on his scheduled arrivals. This is something Glenn would have stopped, he knows, but there’s no one left to care about being humane.

Tara loses herself, at first, when she comes back and finds out. But then she steels, becomes someone Rick didn’t realize possible, and this scares him. It scares him, he thinks, because he doesn’t know his friends – his family – as well as he thought.

There is more that changes, from the general atmosphere to the morale of all in the community. Glenn was their heart, but now it is gone, and –

It’s never going to be the same.

 

**two.**

“Such a pretty face, darling,” Negan says softly, before the bat slams onto Rosita’s head and knocks her down in one blow. “Such a shame I have to ruin it.”

Abraham’s strangled cry isn’t surprising but it twists Rick’s heart to hear. It’s not – well. He’s not close to Rosita, but he knows she was trusted, loyal, a good person all around. It’s worse that the major feeling in his gut is relief that it wasn’t someone else.

It happens the same. One by one, they get into the RV, one by one stepping over what’s left of Rosita. Glenn scrambles to carry Maggie, who’s quietly sobbing into his shoulder.

As Rick stands and unsteadily makes his way across, he has to stop himself from watching Sasha try to pull Abraham to his feet.

“I – I can’t,” Abraham says quietly, knees still on the ground.

“Get _up_ ,” Sasha says in a low voice. Negan hasn’t taken notice of them yet. There’s still a chance for them both to leave, not that there is a _both_ for them anymore. Sasha’s realizing maybe there never was.

“I can’t.”

“Do you _really_ think this is what she’d want for you?”

“I – I never…she was…”

“Get the _fuck_ up!”

And he does. Together, yet apart, they move into the RV and leave Rosita behind.

-

Sasha will stay at the Hilltop with Maggie and Glenn, only because she can’t bare to stay with Abraham. She can picture his sullen face in her mind, can understand that she was never really in the picture, just a coping mechanism because he got bored –

Maybe that’s not fair. Maybe he does love her, or at least care for her like she cares for him. Maybe it’s simply the shock of seeing the person he _used_ to love like that. The more she thinks about it, the more she thinks that’s probably it, and the more she hates herself for feeling the way she does.

Still, though. She’ll stay for a week or so and then head back, Glenn and Maggie with her. “You should stay to have the baby here,” Glenn tries to protest, but Maggie reminds him that the Saviours are everywhere, and she’d rather know the people around her are capable.

As the three of them walk back through the gate, Abraham approaches Sasha first. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean–”

“I know,” she says, and though the both of them do, they still see Rosita’s body around every corner.

 

**three.**

When the bat strikes Daryl, Rick keeps thinking that he should have seen it coming.

The Saviours already had some kind of grudge against him. Daryl’s obviously one of their best fighters, probably the least likely to bend to their will. It makes sense that Negan would rid of him now.

But –

that doesn’t make it any easier to see the man Rick calls a brother in pieces on the dirt.

“Would you look at that!” Negan calls, seeing the look of horror written on Rick’s face. “I _did_ kill your right hand man, didn’t I? Oh, I am sorry. That’s gonna be real hard for you.”

Rick’s hands form fists at his sides. He doesn’t hear Negan’s voice anymore. All he thinks about now is revenge.

-

They get back to Alexandria too quickly. It isn’t enough time for Rick to think of a plan. He doesn’t yet know how they’re going to strike back, how they’re going to get revenge on Negan and _all_ his followers for – for –

He can’t think about it. It’s a distraction from the goal, the goal he knows Daryl would have set.

“Rick,” Michonne will say, gently grabbing his hand, directing his chin so that his eyes meet hers. “Slow down.”

“I can’t,” he says, even though he nods, even though he knows that he _has_ to. “If I do, I…I’ll think about the fact that he’s not _here_.”

It’s a moment of weakness for him. He’s never this direct, but maybe, maybe Michonne has that power over him now. “I understand,” she says, because of course she does. “But you need a break, too.”

Surprisingly, it’s Aaron that allows him this luxury. “I’ll take over,” he says, eyes hard and expressionless. “Daryl saved my life, countless times. I owe him.”

Rick nods, gives the man a grateful look, and turns with Michonne to leave. Daryl is not far from his mind, though. He never will be.

-

Aaron honestly doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into as he takes over scrutinizing maps and calculating possible battle strategies from Rick. He’s never _been_ on the offensive, but – well, Daryl meant a lot to him. To _all_ of them.

Eric stands by his side. “This doesn’t have to be on you,” he reminds him.

“It doesn’t _have_ to be,” Aaron will counter. “But after everything? It should.”

Maybe the two of them don’t know Daryl all that deeply. But they knew enough. They knew enough that Eric nods, places a hand on Aaron’s shoulder, and helps him plan.

 

**four.**

When Michonne’s body hits the floor, it scares Rick just how used to this he is.

It doesn’t feel like Lori. It doesn’t feel like Jessie, even. It feels like a cold resolve that maybe he’s not _meant_ to love. Maybe this world doesn’t permit it. Maybe this isn’t – maybe he’s doing something wrong.

But he’s not afraid. He’s not even angry, to a sense. It’s selfish, but. He feels guilty that he did this to her. She didn’t deserve to be caught in the death trap that is Rick Grimes.

Rick’s lack of a reaction stirs something in Negan, though. “And here I thought this was your lady!” he yells. “But was I wrong? Is… _this_ your lady?” The bat points at Rosita, then Sasha. “Or is she not even here?”

He doesn’t reply. Negan’s right – she’s not here, not anymore.

“Oh, Rick, maybe you’re better than I give you credit for.” Negan could say anything, and it wouldn’t elicit a response. Rick’s officially checked out.

-

“This is new,” Glenn admits, sitting in the RV, carefully looking at Rick. Their leader’s sitting, on his own, staring straight ahead. He has not spoken. He has not moved. It’s difficult to tell if he’s even breathing.

“It’s stupid, is what it is,” Daryl says, trying to hide the pain as Rosita does her best to look at his shoulder. The bullet wound is not lethal, she’s pretty sure, but still serious.

As they get to the Hilltop, Jesus approaches them, helping Glenn get Maggie to their doctor. When he returns, he takes one look at Rick and asks, “Is he staying, too?”

They nod. Of his own accord, Rick stands, exits the RV, and enters the Hilltop.

He has no intention of ever coming back.

 

**five.**

It takes several blows for Abraham to give up and fall to the ground. “Took it like a _champ_!” Negan roars. He’s happy with himself, maybe even proud, that he robbed Rick’s group of one of their best men. It makes his job just that much easier, that’s for sure.

Still – Sasha and Rosita are both not so forgiving. Their eyes are both dark as they leave the lineup and head into the RV. Though some might expect them to be driven further apart, when their eyes meet, it is done in a mutual understanding.

-

Abraham’s absence is felt subtly more than it is seen. As their supplies dwindle, they are unable to gather them back as they once did. Any construction is halted.

“I didn’t know what had happened with you both,” Sasha will finally admit to Rosita one day as they stand together on watch. “I…I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Rosita will say, and she’ll understand, because the person at fault is dead and it’s making it so, so hard to hate him.

She could never hate him. She never has.

 

**six.**

Glenn screams when Maggie is hit. The sheer sound of the cry is enough for Rick to shut his eyes in pain, in sympathy, because he _knows_. He knows that with one blow, Negan killed three.

“I don’t know what you’re crying for,” Negan laughs. “I did you a _favour_! She was definitely going to die. I’m just speedin’ up the process for you!”

Glenn does not respond, instead, covers his mouth to silence his own tears.

“Well, fine,” Negan says. “Keep your gratitude to yourself. I don’t need it.”

It’s sick, and twisted, and deranged, but the first thing Rick thinks is that well, they don’t need to go to the Hilltop anymore.

-

They turn around and head home.

As they slowly each get out, Rick supports Glenn on one side, Aaron on the other. Glenn’s eyes are sullen, haunted, a look so familiar to Rick that he doesn’t try to say anything. Nothing he says will even remotely fix what has been committed.

It will be almost an hour later, when Rick lets Glenn into his own house and finds him a spot, that Glenn will finally say, “That was it. That was my one shot.”

“What?”

“That was my one shot at normalcy. Hers, too.”

Rick understands, he does. As he leaves and shuts the door, he can hear Glenn let out another scream.

 

**seven.**

Sasha’s body lies right next to Rick. Even though she’s so close in proximity, it feels like miles away. _He_ feels miles away.

Abraham’s expression grows cold. He’s trying not to jump up and beat Negan senseless, but somewhere in his mind Rick hopes he understands the odds. The Saviours around them jeer. It’s too twisted to make sense of.

At Hilltop, Maggie and Glenn get out. Jesus comes up to meet them. “What happened to you?” he asks, softly, as if he knows.

“It doesn’t fucking matter,” Abraham will say, and Rosita will change seats because there’s so much more malice in his voice than she’s used to.

 

**eight.**

Aaron, regrettably, was never someone Rick thought about much. Sure, he gave them a home, someplace to call _theirs._ But…he was always just _there_. Always there when they needed him, needed someone, always helping, never complaining but now –

Now he’s dead on the forest floor all because Negan needed an example.

What is he going to tell Eric?

-

At the end of it all, it’s Daryl that approaches Eric and tells him the news. Rick’s expecting to hear distant cries to sadness, of grief, and while Rick would understand this he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to hear it.

There is no such cry. He sees Daryl talk to Eric, he sees Eric’s expression harden, grow cold for the first time Rick knows of. And then Eric’s coming towards him, towards the group and –

“Let me help you kill them all.”

There’s no denying him.

 

**nine.**

It’s amazing Carl’s lived as long as he has, he supposes. In this world, kids don’t get far. He’s seen it in Sophia, in Mica, in Lizzie. None of the other kids from the prison have lived. Jessie’s children have died and yet –

Carl’s made it up until now.

Still, when the bat swings and lands on Carl’s head, hat and all, Rick yells as loud as he can because that’s it. Rick’s done. Everything he’s done has been for the safety of his family and now it’s gone, it’s dead –

If he tries, he can still picture Carl screaming his name and running up to meet him –

Even though he tries, he tried, Carl’s dead.

There’s no point. There’s just no point.

Rick’s eyes roll back and he’s gone, too.

 

**ten.**

Rick’s going to be honest. He will not miss Eugene.

But one tear falls from Abraham’s eye, Rosita throws a hand over her mouth to stop a sob, the blood sprayed onto Carl’s face paints a picture of pain.

Rick’s going to be honest. He has no _real_ respect for Eugene, not after what he did, but it’s – well.

It’s inhumane, and if Eugene was something, it was human.

 

**eleven.**

_The world is dark. He can’t open his eyes, no matter how hard he tries. He only hears the screams, he only feels the pain._

_Rick’s done so much in his life. He’s killed so many, survived so many more. He’s loved, he’s lost, he’s just gone on for so long._

_In one final moment, he opens his eyes, and sees a barbed wire bat in swing, coming down on his head._

_There are eleven different ways this can go, he realizes, and this is only one of them._

**Author's Note:**

> if you're wondering why each scenario got shorter and shorter, i was (hopefully) trying to mimic rick's thoughts and his anxiety growing. maybe it worked. hoping it did.
> 
> thanks for the read! <3


End file.
